BY BUSINESS EDITOR
MBABANE – The Eswatini Competition Commission (Compco) has approved the ACQUISITION BY Industrial Development Company of Eswatini (“IDCE”) OF 55% shareholding in Pigg’s Peak Plaza from Leadenhall Investments (Pty) Ltd.
IDCE is a development finance company that is incorporated and registered under the company laws of Eswatini with its principal place of business situated at 5th Floor Dlanubeka Building, Mbabane. IDCE, formerly known as Swaziland Industrial Development Company (SIDC) was formed in 1986 through a joint venture between the Government of Eswatini and five major international finance institutions namely DEG (Germany), CDC of the United Kingdom, FMO of the Netherlands, PROPARCO of France and IFC (World Bank).
Pigg’s Peak Plaza is a company registered and incorporated in terms of the company laws of Eswatini. The company developed Pigg’s Peak Plaza which provides leasing space to varied tenants from retail, service providers, supermarket, and a filling station. 6.3 The decision The Commission considered the products of the parties and concluded that the relevant market is the provision of commercial space in Pigg’s Peak Plaza.
In its analysis, COMPCO said they considered the activities of the merging parties and found that there are overlaps since the acquiring firm is already a minority shareholder in Pigg’s Peak Plaza. However, the transaction is categorized as a phase 1 merger because the merging firms’ combined market share in the relevant market is below 15%.
“Post-merger, the market shares in the relevant market and market concentration will not be altered such that the structure of the market will remain unchanged. Countervailing power and barriers to entry will not be affected therefore the transaction is unlikely to result in the substantial lessening or prevention of competition,” added Compco.
Another merger which was approved by Compco is the acquisition by Afrimat Limited (“Afrimat”) OF the entire issued share capital of Lafarge Holdings (Pty) Ltd (“Lafarge Holdings”) from CARICEMENT B.V.
Afrimat, a public company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and has its principal business address at Tyger Valley Business Park No. 2, corner of Willie van Schoor Avenue & Old Oak Road, Tyger Valley, Western Cape, South Africa. Afrimat’s shareholding is widely held, and the entity holds significant investments and has a long-standing reputation in the mining, aggregates, and cement-based products businesses.
Lafarge Holdings has its principal business address at 35 Westfield Road, Longmeadow Business Estate Ext, Edenvale, South Africa. Lafarge Holdings is wholly owned by Caricement. Caricement is wholly owned by Holderfin G.V., which in turn, is wholly owned by Holcim Limited (“Holcim”). Holcim is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and its shareholding is widely held. Holcim is not controlled (directly or indirectly) by any enterprise or group of enterprises.
